The strongest one
by Alexander von Weltstein
Summary: As time goes by, the Thundermans have to face a new challenge when they get caught in a fight between Light and Darkness, with Max as the one needed to restore the balance to the world. But soon the conflict increases and he has to decided which side to choose if he doesn't want his family to suffer. And things get even more complicated when Phoebe breaks his heart...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Villain U vs. Superheroes Council

Dark Mayhem was always preoccupied of finding new students for Villain U at most three years before they fulfilled the age requirements for starting to study at the University.

'So which are the best candidates that are 15, at the moment?', Dark Mayhem asked his humpbacked servant in his usual cold voice, due to a voice modulator.

'I found three adequate enough for attending the University, master...', the servant said, almost whispering the last words.

After a moment of silence, Dark Mayhem lost his patience:

'Well? Who are they?', he asked.

The servant looked puzzled.

'Who, master?'

Dark Mayhem was now smoking furry.

'The candidates, idiot!', he cried out.

The humpbacked servant was now frightened to death.

'Yes, m-master, t-they are: Rodion Maskolovitch, Alexander Wozniak, from Poland and Maximus Thunderman.'

As the last name was said, Dark Mayhem's attention was officially captured.

'Did you say Thunderman? Like in t-h-u-n-d-e-r-m-a-n? The superhero?'

The servant quickly looked over some documents and handing them to Dark Mayhem, he said:

'Yes, master. Here is written that he is the son of Hank Thunderman, the superhero and has the following abilities-'

'Levitation, climate control...', Dark Mayhem read aloud from the documents.

After a short moment of deep contemplation, Dark Mayhem said:

'Oh, I think I have big plans for Max Thunderman... Oh yes, we have a new pawn in this war, a crucial one...', his words died in the deadly silence that fell over the place.

In the meanwhile...

'Alright, now let's start with session 235 on year 2014, highly esteemed superheroes.', Superman said, bored to death. 'Today we are going to discuss a very important matter: Max Thunderman.'

As the last words left Superman's lips, the murmurs from the talking superheroes died instantly.

'We all know that this child is very important, as he is a very powerful superhero, one that will soon outpace me in abilities that many of us can only dream of. Now, the problem is-'

'Excuse me, Sir!', a blonde superwoman interrupted Superman, probably being new in the Council. 'But why is Max Thunderman or and any Thunderman relevant to this Council? As far as I know, Hank Thunderman got retired after his recent failures and I correctly presume that his children aren't better either.'

All the heroes at the table looked to both Superman and the new superwoman, waiting for an ultimate battle, maybe, but it has never happened.

'I understand your reasons for being reticent towards the Thundermans, but let's not forget how good Hank Thunderman was in his times. Anyway, coming to young Max, we shall apply what we decided to, in 1999. So if-'

Now Superman was interrupted again by the blonde woman:

'And that is? I'm new here for God's sake!?'

Superman rose to his feet and started to walk slowly around the long table.

'Many of us know the weird circumstances of Max's birth, on 7 March, 1999. Now, Max and Phoebe, his twin-sister, are parted by 20 seconds only. Pitifully, this meant a lot of time, Phoebe being born on 6 March, 1999 at 23:59 and 40 seconds and Max on 7 March, 1999 at midnight. The fortune made that Achilles Comet started its journey at that hour sharp.', Superman said, taking a deep breath in order to make sure that everyone was listening. 'Now, we all new that Achilles Comet's main property is to derange our powers, but when a superhero child is born on the day of its arrival, it is possible to get many other abilities, that are identical with ours-as Superman said this, he tried to include the whole bunch of superheroes in a single gesture-and now, that Max reached puberty, we can test him in order to find his abilities and train in him to become the best superhero ever.'

'One problem, though!', a rather fat guy said, 'As far as I know, this Max is not an angel. On contrary actually, he was suspended twice from the Superhero School for vandalism, and breaking into the school's records, which are both, let's remember serious misdemeanours, according to US law. Lately, our scanners detected two unauthorised launches into space of two little rockets, not very big, they didn't require more then 1100 Newtons in order to be launched, but still. And guess from where were they launched? Max's residency!'

A long silence followed, interrupted in the end by Superman:

'I know that Max Thunderman is not the best example of being a good and responsible superhero, especially compared to his sister, but let's give him a chance. After all, we all were not the best either when we first started to discover our powers. So? Do you want Max Thunderman to come here?'

Exclamations and shouts of approval followed, proving Superman that he was still a good persuasive speaker.

At the Thundermans'...

'Yes?', Max answered his phone. 'Max Thunderman speaking.'

'That's what I expected. I am Dark Mayhem.', a cold voice said.

Max froze, due to both gladness and concern.

'This is not a joke is it?', Max asked, quieter.

'AM I A PERSON THAT JOKES?!', Dark Mayhem's cold voice boomed through the speakers.

'No, Sir, what I meant is-'

'I don't care what you meant!', Dark Mayhem interrupted Max. 'Now,', he said calming down a bit, 'what about coming and visiting Villain U? Maybe, in three years you will be one of our best students.'

Max couldn't help but giggle, although he was smart enough to put his phone away while he giggled and jumped without stopping.

'So can you come tomorrow? That is going to be on Saturday.'

Max cleared his throat and said coldly:

'It's a deal then, Sir!'

'Very well, then.', Dark Mayhem said, hanging up.

Max continued to jump around the room, not knowing that Billy, wishing to ask Max something overheard the whole conversation.

"_Max is going to leave and go to Villain U?! But... But..."_, Billy thought, puzzled more than usual. He was sure of one thing though:

'Phoebe!', he yelled.

Some minutes later...

'Are you sure, Billy?', Phoebe asked really worried.

The young dark-haired boy nodded.

Phoebe took a deep breath.

'Alright, Billy, I'll tell mom tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow? But he has to go to that University, then!', Billy exclaimed near hysteria, but Phoebe didn't seem to observe.

'That's why I will move fast. Now go to bed and forget about it, OK?'

Billy nodded, dragging his feet wearily.

After he left, Phoebe could resist no more and burst into crying, sobbing loudly, whispering 'Why?' all the time.

But why? She couldn't understand Max. Why would he want to attend a villain university when he was a superhero. It's true, with some weird methods, and no ethics, he was, anyway. Phoebe still remembered how many times Max saved her by assuming the whole guilt or when he helped her to make it up with Cole... Phoebe couldn't forget these things and she will always knew that Max was a good guy...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Superhero or supervillain?

Barb opened the door slowly and closed it, running concerned to her daughter's side.

'What is it, dear?', she asked Phoebe, who was shaking uncontrollably, now.

Phoebe took a deep breath and said, stumbling:

'H-he's l-leavin', M-mom...'

Now it was Barb's turn to get worried.

'Who? Who's leaving, dear?'

Phoebe didn't answer, starting to sob again, soothed by Barb.

'If you don't want to tell me, it's...'

'MAX', Phoebe cried out, interrupting Barb.

Barb stopped dead for a moment, processing the information.

'Are you sure, Phoebe? Where is he going then?'

Phoebe answered much calmer now:

'Villain U. As Billy says, he was talking with Dark Mayhem himself!'

'I see. And you're sad because...?', Barb asked questionably.

'I care about him, mom! And I know that he is not a bad person... I mean, what villain would help his sister, take all the blame, or create a clone, so she can do more things at once.'

Barb smiled.

'It was the time you observed.'

Phoebe looked deep in her mother's eyes.

'Wait, you knew? All this time?!'

'Don't be so surprised dear, mothers know everything. And I think that I know how to stop Max go to that University, because I suspect he will sneak out of the house and-'

Barb was interrupted by her phone ringing. She got her iPhone out of her pocket and answered.

'Yes. Yes. I see. Max? When? Alright, we'll be there, thank you.', Barb said hanging up.

As Phoebe heard Max, she suddenly knew something was wrong or going to be wrong.

'Who was that? What? How?'

'It was Superman, he wanted to invite Max and you to Metroburg, in order to award you and Max a prize for the best Superjunior heroes of the Thundermans-'

Phoebe's cry forced Barb to stop for a moment. When she saw that Phoebe calmed down, she carried on:

'And Max is going to get first, due to his many services for this family.'

Phoebe froze.

'That's impossible! Max is... But he...', she knew what to say no more.

'I think that the Superheroes Council appreciated his attempts to be good by helping you, despite his lack of ethics.', Barb said, receiving no response from Phoebe, so she hastened to add: 'It is going to be the perfect excuse, so Max won't go to Villain U!'

Phoebe looked a little undecided, but nodded in approval.

'Yes, well... I think that he d-deserves the prize.', she said halfhearted.

'That's my girl!', Barb exclaimed, living Phoebe alone.

Phoebe remained still, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. There was something creepy about all this: the prize, Max and Villain U, but she couldn't figure out what...

'_Oh, well, I'll figure it out tomorrow...'_, Phoebe thought, falling asleep.

_**It was weird- everything was enveloped in the light of the sun at dusk, but everything was silent and all the buildings around were ruined. He looked around and all he could see was a dark shadow coming towards him. As the unknown figure advanced, he was able to see his face, or the mask that covered it- there was no way of mistaking: it was Dark Mayhem. He unfolded his fist and a green light ball took shape and then it hit Max in the chest...**_

Max's eyes snapped opened and he immediately came to his senses, observing that some drops of blood were already streaming from his nose.

Next day...

'Good morning, Max!', Barb said as Max came in sight, trying to look refreshed after a so called resting sleep.

'Hello, Barbs!', he exclaimed but had to rectify as he received a "mom look" from his mother.

'Anyway, congrats, my dear!', she cried out, embracing and kissing Max.

When he managed to keep a reasonable distance between himself and Barb, he asked bewildered:

'What's going on?'

Barb smiled and said:

'You were awarded by the Superheroes Council for being the best Thunderman in-training-'

'Wait,', Max interrupted Barb, 'does it mean that I'm better then Phoebe?!'

Barb nodded halfhearted.

'I'M BETTER THEN PHOEBE!', Max yelled, starting to jump around like a schoolgirl.

'What about me?', Phoebe asked, dragging her feet slowly.

'I'M BETTER THAN YOU!', Max screamed in her face.

Phoebe sighed, but said nothing. What was she supposed to say?! Superheroes Council was never wrong!

Max happily grabbed his iPhone and headed towards the door.

'Where are you going, sweetie?', Barb asked.

Max froze and answered, turning to Barb:

'I was... Uhm...'

'Then I presume that it is not important.'

'Well-'

'Good!', Barb exclaimed and continued: 'Because you and Phoebe are invited in Metroburg so they can give you the prize.'

As Max heard "prize", his attention was captured:

'Prize?'

Barb promptly answered:

'Yes, I think it was a thousand dollars, or so...'

Max had to decide between Villain U or a thousand dollars and soon decided: the 1000 dollars.

'Alright, I presume it won't take too long...', Max said shrugging.

In Metroburg, Superheroes Council's secret hideout...

Max, Phoebe and Barb opened the double doors at the entrance of the SC's secret headquarters and soon were able to see the spectacular sitting room, where columns of glass supported the heavy ceiling and decorations made also of glass came down from the gray ceiling directly toward the floor.

'Oh, here you are!', a familiar voice said, snapping the three Thundermans from their thoughts.

As they turned their heads, they recognized the possessor of the voice immediately- it was Superman. After the etiquette requirements were fully fulfilled, Superman led the three Thundermans to a marble stair that led to an area where there was absolutely no one, as Phoebe soon observed.

Superman stopped and opened a glass door, inviting the Thundermans into a sitting room nicely decorated, making haste of getting everyone sited.

'So? When are you going to give me the prize I deserve and Phoebe doesn't?', Max said, smirking at Phoebe, but she ignored him, looking at Superman, observing every gesture of his facial expression and soon observed that Superman raised his eyebrows, but then he said:

'Right, the prize well...'

'Oh come on!', Phoebe burst, 'Tell us why did you want us here because I don't buy the prize story, OK?'

Her words floated in the stiffened air, and everyone glared at her.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to-', Phoebe tried to save her reputation, blushing.

'No, actually you are right, young lady. I wanted to meet Max here, so I can tell him the truth about his birth...'

Max looked as he had been slapped by someone with super-strength, but Superman took no notice of it.

'What's so mysterious about his birth, Clark?', Barb said in a fighting way.

Superman raised his hands in the air and said:

'Well, I don't think that you remember that he was born when Achilles comet just entered in the atmosphere, causing great issues with our powers and giving part of them to all the super-children that had to be born on that day, and this time it was born one only.'

'I don't get it!', Max exclaimed. 'What do you mean, that I have all your powers or what?'

Superman continued as Max hadn't said a thing:

'We all know that usually superpowers are equally distributed between twins, but this time there was a special case: Phoebe had to be born with all the powers and Max had to be a normal person. But the Providence decided otherwise, and Max was born when the Achilles comet, the one that gives us our powers, reappeared in the skies. As this comet has the property of giving us powers, it also has the power to enrich our powers and make then uncontrollable. Now that Max was born on that day gave him all the powers we have, so he is the most powerful superhero yet.'

'YES! I AM BETTER THAN PHOEBE!', Max cried out, receiving cold glares from everyone in the room.

'But I want to know if his or Phoebe's powers gone wrong when the Achilles comet entered again in the atmosphere, some months ago.'

Barb answered, looking straight into Superman's eyes:

'No, because they're twins and as long as they stay together-'

'NO, no foolish woman!', Superman yelled angrily at Barb. 'Did they stay together during the coming of Achilles comet?!'

Barb nodded, visibly insulted.

'Because if they did, Max's powers couldn't be activated. Were there any moments when you two were parted by more than 5 feet?'

This time Phoebe answered:

'Well only for a short moment, but some things almost started to levitate.'

Superman nodded thoughtfully and then turned to Max.

'Please freeze her, Max.', Superman asked Max, and he did as he was told. Before Barb would ask any questions, he ordered Max:

'Now use all your powers, OK?'

Max nodded, levitating everything that was in the room, including pieces of furniture, Superman, Barb and the frozen Phoebe. Then, he used his breath to froze the floor and then unfreeze it. As he did so, he felt something breaking inside of him, and he dropped his hold of everything unwillingly, everything crushing on the floor.

When Superman and Barb managed to stay on their feet, Max asked Superman:

'Why was it necessary to do this?', Max asked panting.

'Because it was necessary to break the connection that blocked your powers, but made Phoebe more powerful. From now on, the connection exists no more, and you are totally independent from her. I also presume that you unlocked all your powers now, so try them!', Superman said, breathing heavily.

'And they are?', Max asked, looking at Superman.

'Well, you have to discover them one by one, but I have an idea of what powers you have. Try all the powers you know.'

"All the powers I know?", Max thought. "Right, those powers!", he thought smiling.

'Superspeed!', he said, disappearing in a blush and reappearing some seconds later. 'Nice coffee machines, by the way!', he said smirking at Superman.

'Try something else, now.', he replied calmly.'

Max tried them all: superstrength, eyelasers, and controlling electricity. There was one more left: flying.

'Now let's fly!', Max exclaimed, but was soon stopped by Superman.

'Not here. Maybe later, because this room already looks a little...destroyed.', Superman said, and Max observed that pieces of broken glass were almost everywhere, the glass door was pulled of its hinges and melted ice covered the floor.

'The most you can do right now is to unfreeze your sister.', Superman said, and Max nodded halfhearted.

But as he, Superman and Barb looked around, there was no trace of Phoebe.

'For God's sake, where is she?!', Barb cried out.

Max didn't answer, his eyesight becoming blurry and replaced by a vision, not at all pleasant.

'_**Leave me alone!', Phoebe yelled as she tried to stay away from Dark Mayhem.**_

_**The latter said nothing, but threw a ball of fire towards Phoebe, but she managed to dodge using her cold-breath. Dark Mayhem tried to catch Phoebe and the two of them started to fight with quick and might moves...**_

The vision disappeared and Max soon observed his mother's worried look.

'She's in danger!', was all he said before superspeeding away.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- The chosen one

Max was super speeding around the headquarters like nuts, not being able to stop and think where his sister might be. All he knew was that she was in danger and he had to save her no matter what... He stopped, but realized that he was in another courtyard so he started running again. After some more failed attempts to find Phoebe he finally found the courtyard he had seen in his vision.

There he was: Dark Mayhem fighting with his sister. At first, Max observed that she was quicker than her adversary and had more chances to win, but then, Dark Mayhem grabbed Phoebe by her long dark hair and threw her on the pavement. As he had seen this, something inside Max snapped: no one was allowed to hurt Phoebe excepting him.

'Hey, you!' he yelled and his voice boomed through the almost empty yard.

Dark Mayhem, not knowing who was calling him turned around and saw Max, standing near the entrance and fuming.

'Max, I was expecting you at Villain U, not in Metroburg… Or were you playing a double game on me?'

Max gritted his teeth and had to agree with Dark Mayhem: was he going to be a supervillain or a superhero? What was he going to do? With his new superpowers he was supposed to be unstoppable and NO one would ever be able to beat him. Never!

' . !', he yelled and threw a ball of electricity towards Dark Mayhem. As soon as he was touched by the huge ball, Dark Mayhem flew into the air, landing on his back. Then, Max used his super speed in order to see if Phoebe was right.

As he had reached her, he asked:

'Are you alright?'

She nodded, starring at Max in disbelief.

'How did you…? But…' she mumbled being completely shocked.

Max soon realized that she was referring to his powers, but decided to tell her everything later.

'I'll tell you later, OK? Right now we have bigger issues to worry about.' Max said, leading Phoebe to the entrance into the headquarters.

All of a sudden, Max felt a weird sensation and then as he looked around for his sister he was shocked: Phoebe was floating in the air, lifted by Dark Mayhem who was also aiming to strangle her. Max was in a state of wild frenzy, not knowing how to beat Dark Mayhem.

'Leave her alone!' he yelled, but Dark Mayhem just laughed and tightened his hold of Phoebe's neck.

Then, Max had an idea; he tried to use his super breath, but nothing happened.

_"Oh crap!"_ he thought and tried to think about ice. Then, he observed a light trail of ice spreading around him and becoming more and more prominent, covering more of the pavement. In seconds, Dark Mayhem lost his balance and dropped his hold of Phoebe's neck. Both of them fell on the frozen pavement. Phoebe moaned loudly as she made contact with the earth.

Max tried to reach her, but was stopped and thrown away by Dark Mayhem's telekinetic shield.

'What do you want?' Max asked visibly desperate and ready to do whatever Dark Mayhem asked him to.

'Stretch the hand you write with and she will be fine.', Dark Mayhem barked and Max had no choice but to do what he was told, so he slowly stretched his hand towards Dark Mayhem.

All of a sudden, Superman and Barb entered the courtyard, and observing the view, stopped dead.

'Max, no!' Superman yelled, but all Max said was:

'I have to!'

Then, Max had an idea; what if he charged his hand with electricity… As he had thought this, a great wave of electricity enveloped his hand and Max had to grit his teeth in order not to giggle: electricity was so tickling. But he had to scream when Dark Mayhem's cold hand touched his- it was like his hand was in fire. Then, both of them flew into the air, landing in opposed places. Dark Mayhem stood up quickly waiting for Max's response, but the latter fell into the soothing darkness and fainted with a light whine.

Barb screamed and ran towards Max, trying to help him, as Superman remained to fight Dark Mayhem.

'Back away! The other superheroes are on their way and you don't want to fight us!'

Dark Mayhem soon observed that Superman was right, as he observed many colourful capes approaching.

'I'll come back, believe me!' he cried out and disappeared.

As Dark Mayhem vanished, Superman approached Barb.

'Is he alright?'

'No,' Barb exclaimed, 'he's nose is bleeding…'

'Alright, I'll call an Ambulance.' Superman said, entering the headquarters.

Later at the Superheroes Hospital…

'Phoebe, stop circling! You're giving me a headache!', Barb snapped at Phoebe, making Phoebe furious.

'Well, maybe you don't care about Max as much as I do!', she cried out, her voice booming in the reception room, receiving cold glares from the patients.

As Phoebe's words remained in the air full of worriedness from both women, Barb's attitude softened.

'I understand that you are worried, dear! So am I, but circling the room for thousands and thousands of times doesn't help!'

As she had heard her mother's soothing words, Phoebe just broke down and embraced her mother, crying wildely.

'I j-just can't make it! All t-this stuff w-with M-max and D-dark M-mayhem is so…'

Barb gently patted Phoebe's head and murmured:

'I know, dear, I know.'

They remained embraced for some minutes which seemed to them years, but they were interrupted by the doctor.

'Hello! My name is Anna Gladwell and I your son was my patient.', she said smiling and both women decided that she was a pleasurable person.

'And is he going to be fine?', Phoebe asked, speaking at a fast pace.

'Yes, he is perfectly fine, although he is pretty wick. Now, I think that some time of recovery and minimal training will do it.', Dr. Anna checked her clipboard and then carried on: 'Does his nose bleed often?'

Barb thought about her answer for a couple of moments and answered:

'No, why?'

'Well, we found certain small sections of cuts on his skin, near the entrance of his nostril that shows that he bled before and quite recently. Anyway, I presume that there is nothing serious.'

Barb and Phoebe nodded, and then Phoebe asked, her eyes sparkling:

'Can we see him?'

Dr. Anna considered her question for a moment and then nodded.

'However, too many complex emotions might prove as harming, so I expect you to remain as calm as possible.', she said very seriously. 'And now,', Dr. Anna added smiling, 'a nurse will lead you to his room.'

Dr. Anna snapped her fingers and immediately a smiling nurse came in view and led Phoebe and Barb through a multitude of corridors until she stopped in front of a white door. Phoebe quickly pulled the handle and opened the door. There, on a large hospital bed was Max, dressed in a nightgown of the hospitals', sleeping peacefully. Phoebe, closely followed by Barb rushed over his side and sighed: somehow she had the feeling that all this was her fault… But it wasn't, was it?!

'What next?', Phoebe asked, her voice cold as ice.

'Training, Max will need lots of training… He is the most powerful superhero in history, after all…', Barb answered thoughtfully. 'But I have an idea!'

Phoebe looked at inquiringly, strongly wondering what her mother was thinking at.

'What if you are going to train Max? I mean, you are young and prepared, so you two will communicate lot better! And at least that is what you can do, having in view that he saved your life.'

As soon as Barb realized what she had said, she regretted it; Phoebe stiffened and said nothing more for a long time. Then, she began:

'Alright! I will train Max, but with help from you! I mean, I know something about super strength and electricity control… Because, if I understood well, he has all this powers, right?', Phoebe said, a little confused.

Barb nodded, understanding the feelings that her daughter had, but being unable to help her.

'I am going to the cafeteria, do you want to come?'

'No, thanks, I think I'll remain here.', Phoebe said determined, and Barb soon observed that she was going to stay with Max as much as required, so she said nothing else and exited the room.

In the cafeteria…

'Barbs!', Barb heard and as she had turned around, she saw her husband, escorted by Billy and Nora.

'Hi!', she answered smiling. 'What are you guys doing here?'

'Well, we left to Metroburg as soon as we heard that Max was

hurt.'

'Yes, dad made such a fuss about it!', exclaimed Nora, bored to death and, as always, Billy agreed with her.

'So, can we see him?', asked Billy excited as always.

'I'm afraid no. Let's wait a little and then we can, alright?', said Barb, leading her family to a table, neglecting that Phoebe was alone with Max.

Back in Max's hospital room…

Phoebe squeezed Max's hand and took a deep breath; from now on she will do whatever was necessary to help her brother. After all, he didn't think twice before rushing over to protect her from Dark Mayhem! And that was only a single example. Max was a superhero, because a supervillain would have never helped his sister, but he did- he was able to fight his idol for her sake only! Yes, he was a much better superhero than she was… He always protected her, especially when they were very young, since toddlerhood and then, all of a sudden, a thought

struck her: she was the big sister, she had to be the overprotective one!

Back at Villain U…

'He is indeed the Chosen One!', Dark Mayhem exclaimed walking through the room at a quick pace, not being able to calm down. 'I already feel more powerful!', he exclaimed, approaching a coffee table.

He raised his hand and then hit the table with a quick, mighty move. On instant, with a loud crack, the table broke down.

'The prophecy is true, then…', murmured Dark Mayhem, ordering his humpbacked servant to bring him a book from the library of the university, a book that held a secret that could change the world…


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Sorry for the lack of suspense in this chapter, but the next one will surely be suspenseful!**

**Yours,**

**Alex**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4- The prophecy<p>

Phoebe, Barb and Hank had followed Superman worriedly as the little group entered the Superheroes' Library.

When they entered, Phoebe's jaw dropped, not believing her eyes; on every wall were huge bookcases that contained hundreds of colourful comics, in which starred all the superheroes that have been part of the Council. As Superman led the three Thundermans to a section of the library, Phoebe couldn't help but meditate about the reason of their presence there. All she knew was that they were called from the Hospital urgently, as Superman had to communicate a very important issue, but they have been following Superman for minutes now, and he still said nothing; it became annoying, actually!

Finally, Superman stopped in front of a secured metal door that required a fingerprint in order to be unlocked. He pressed his thumb on the authenticator and then, when the metal door popped open, he invited the three Thundermans inside. The latters entered reluctantly, looking around surprised.

Behind the door, on a black iron table was a single object: a big book with brown covers, decorated by round golden patterns.

Phoebe just couldn't understand it- all that security for a single book?! What was so important about an old book?

Superman pointed his eyes towards the Thundermans, staring at them, as it was the first time he saw them, and then encouraged them to come nearer the table with a gesture.

'I think there is something I forgot to tell you about Dark Mayhem… and… Max.', he said sighing and opened the book.

In the meantime at Villain U…

Dark Mayhem carefully opened the heavy book he ordered to be brought form the library, tenderly touching its brown covers and golden patterns. Then, he browsed quickly through the old pages, until he found the page he looked for.

Undique lecti pueri

Peculiaris puer auferatur,

De donis supernaturalibus,

Veteres vero auctoritate dederit,

Pro potestate et imperio,

Ascenderunt populi, et adorent.

Sed magnum certamen venerint,

Percutiat obscurissimi sunt autem,

Est amor et simul dolor pugnabunt,

Et iterum videbitur maiestatis,

Soror prodidit.

Est electus et jussit coinquinari,

Est quod dicitur,

Et spiritus, et ingeniosis,

Patientur,

Et elegit et mortuus est.

Dark Mayhem sighed and tried to remember the translation…

Back at The Superheroes' Council…

Superman recalled all the pieces of Latin he knew and started to translate the ancient words, his voice a little shaky:

'A special boy shall be born away,

From the magical gifts,

But the old authority shall give,

Full powers and control,

The people shall bow.', he read out loud, taking a deep breath and carrying on: 'But a great challenge shall arrive,

When the Dark Ones will strike,

Love and pain shall fight together,

And treason will be seen again,

The sister has betrayed.'

As the last line had been said, everyone stiffened, trying to listen to the poem, being as concentrated as ever.

'The Chosen One might forget,

The true meaning of the words,

And the spirits, and the gifted ones,

Shall suffer the most,

The Chose One is dead.'

The last words died away and Superman closed the book quickly, looking at the three Thundermans in a weary way.

'This is not about Max, is it?', Barb asked, her voice breaking.

Superman said nothing for a while and then answered sadly:

'I am afraid it is, but I am not sure about the true meaning of the words, so it is possible that my translation is not very good. However,', and here Superman made a short pause, 'I and the Council think that the prophecy perfectly describes Max's birth- he is the twin that was meant to have no superpowers, but Achilles Comet offered him more powers than any other superhero has ever had. So, because he is the most powerful superhero, everyone respects him. The second and third stanza talk about the future, but we are not sure about the true meaning of the words. Anyway, we presume it means that Phoebe and Max will have a quarrel and Max is going to do something wrong.

'I would never do something like that!', Phoebe exclaimed, visibly resentful, but received skeptical glares from everyone.

Back at Villain U…

Dark Mayhem translated the third stanza and then proceeded to read the fourth one, that was written in Latin, but in Phoenician letters.

Quia tenebræ: si quomodo decipiatur,

Vetus litteras,

Ratus est, vicit;

Et cadet, et mortuus est,

Magnitudo resurrecturas.

Dark Mayhem started to translate the words and then stopped dead as he figured out the true meaning of the prophecy- it was a warning!

He closed the book abruptly and took a deep breath, finally being aware of the possible danger.

At the Superheroes' Council…

'Is that all?', Phoebe asked slightly nervous.

'Well… yes…', Superman answered in a hesitant way. 'There is a fourth stanza, but it was removed from the book…'

Phoebe was fuming; how was it possible that a part of the most important prophecy to be removed!?

'What do you mean?', she asked, trying to sound calm.

'It is said that the fragment was erased after the writer decided that it revealed to much.'

'And is there no other copy of this book, or something!', Phoebe said, her voice increasing in volume.

Superman shrugged, sighing deeply, as he led the three Thundermans outside the vault, closing the big iron door behind him.

'Look,', Superman said, grabbing Phoebe by the shoulders and forcing her to look in his blue eyes, 'There is nothing I can do to find the content of the last stanza, but there are ways to prevent the prophecy from happening.'

'Like?', Phoebe asked, a hue of distrust being able to be sensed in her voice.

'First of all, by teaching Max ethics and training him. If he is going to be prepared, then his path will be lot easier. I also presume that if you and your family will support him more, he will know how to avoid perils and really stand against darkness. Secondly, just be there for him, all he needs now is someone to talk with, as I remember he has no friends. Right?'

Phoebe nodded, and looking behind once more, exited the library, followed closely by her parents.

Back at the Hospital…

'Hasn't he woken up, yet?', Barb asked Billy and Nora, but the two of them saying that he didn't.

'Now children, who wants to see the Hospital and all the cool superheroes around?', Barb asked, trying to sound cheerful and, taking the two children by the hand and escorted by Hank, left Phoebe alone.

"_I just can't do anything else, but worry… Everything was so hard now… Max was to be the most powerful superhero ever, darkness was rising again and I can do nothing to protect him… Or if… Yes, I could help him by following Superman's advice…"_

As she thought all this, she squeezed Max's hand and soon observed that his fingers started to move slowly. A tear made itself seen as Phoebe observed that Max snapped his eyes open and Phoebe smiled, gently tugging his spiky hair.

'Look who's up!', she exclaimed, the tiny tear still on her cheek.

'Hi!', said Max in the "typical morning voice".

But as soon as he observed the small, he quickly added:

'Why are you crying?'

'Wha-', Phoebe tried to lie and quickly wiped the small drop off her face. 'I'm not- I'm not crying.'

'Why are you crying, Phoebe?', Max asked, making a face that clearly stated: "you cannot lie to Max."

Phoebe smiled again and started to say:

'I umm… well…' she muttered but was fortunately interrupted by the other four Thundermans, all talking loudly, laughing or discussing the possible use of the hospital's machines, they have just seen.

As they soon observed that Max was awake, all of them hastened to be silent.

Max, observing that they were treating him in a cautious way, as he was a living nuke, asked Phoebe conspiratorially:

'You told 'em, didn't you?

'What to-', Phoebe replied being really perplexed , but as he observed Max's brown glowing eyes, she figured out what was he talking about- his new gained powers!

'Well yes! Do you mind?', Phoebe replied slightly embarrassed of her own talkative way of being.

'So, how are you, son?', Hank asked, deciding "to do the honours".

'Fine, thanks! You?', Max replied ironically, observing his father's unusual formality.

'Sorry. I meant: how do you feel?'

'Well, a little sore, tired, but alive.', he answered glaring at his father, as for discovering something untold; Max had the slight impression that something important was kept secret and he really didn't like it.

'That's my boy!', Hank exclaimed, approaching Max's bed, closely followed by Barb.

'Wait, have you just said that you're a little sore? I can fetch a-', Hank started to say, a little worried, but was interrupted by Max:

'Dad, I'm fine!'

'Good thing you are, sweetie, as you are going to train so much… Maybe you should drop school, as you will have to train day and night, without stopping…', Barb said smirking.

Max groaned and covered his ears, not wanting to hear something else about school and learning.

'Come on, guys, stop it! You're scaring him!', exclaimed Phoebe, receiving skeptic glares from her family. Even Max realized that his what his sister said was in a violent contrast with her attitude towards him.

'Well, anyway, I'm happy that I'm going to train someone that has my powers!', Barb exclaimed gladly, with a big smile and, as ever, her husband tended to agree with her.

'Yes, teaching someone else how to fly or use superstrenth…'

Soon, everyone started to say what would they love to teach Max, all at once, so Max took advantage of it to say:

'I'll train on only some conditions. First, no baby treating and secondly, I don't want to wear a ridiculous costume like those of the Golden Age.', he said making a funny grimace. 'No offence, Dad.', he added and everyone started to smile.

'Alright, we'll see about the costume design and your other request IF you are going to train with all of us.', Barb said businesslike.

Max nodded, accepting the deal and then all the Thundermans carried on talking all at once with enthusiasm.

'I wonder if I am going to train you in using superbreath and levitation. You seemed a little out handed, today.', Phoebe said and the Thundermans stiffened.

'You haven't told her, have you?', Max asked and Hank and Barb denied, ducking their heads.

'Tell me what?', Phoebe asked, looking first at her parents and then at Max questionably.

Max looked deep into her eyes and answered sighing:

'Phoebe, I wasn't able to use my powers, because the connection we had as twins was broken and that's why I can use all my powers now… All the powers I shared with you I have no more. Although, it looks like I can still manipulate ice and fire, but in a different way.'

Phoebe said nothing and everyone remained silent , Barb, Hank and Max being truly sorry for Phoebe.

Still saying nothing, she got out of the room, keeping her chin risen, as in sign of dignity.

After she exited the hospital room, the vivid discussion of the Thundermans started again, but started to fade, as Max fell asleep smiling.

Back at the Superheroes' Council…

'So you told them everything?', Batman asked Superman in a disapproving way.

'I had no choice and you know that. The truth had to be known. Now all we have to do is to wait.', Superman said in calming voice.

'So did you tell them about the league as well?', Batman asked, receiving a cold glare from Superman.

'No, Bruce.', was all Superman answered.

Batman nodded and replied smiling cunningly:

'So they are quite far from the truth, then.'

Superman didn't answer and headed to the window, starting to stroll in circles around the many chairs that were in the Council Hall.

Little knew the two superheroes that every word they said was heard by Dark Mayhem through a blonde superwoman…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Starting to happen

Phoebe! PHOEBE!', exclaimed Cherry, making Phoebe to snap from her thoughts.

'What is it?', Phoebe asked, completely puzzled.

'Are you alright? You seem a little distant today!', Cherry quickly said and added: 'Are you alright?'

Phoebe was undecided: to tell her best friend that she was worried about Max or not? Then, she was sure: not!

'No, I'm fine, I'm just worried about my relationship with Cole, that's all!', Phoebe said, deciding that she was a good liar, after all.

'I'm sure everything will be fine, I mean, you two are perfect for each other!', Cherry said at her fast pace, looking goofily at Phoebe.

'Hi!', said Max, coming towards them and smiling.

'Hi, Max! How're you?', Cherry asked, becoming a little red in the face.

'Fine, thanks!', he replied looking a little embarrassed, and soon Phoebe realized something: Cherry had a crush on Max, although she wasn't sure enough about Max's feelings about Cherry. He was still hanging with that horrible girl, Tara! Phoebe made a grimaced and then, pulling out of her thoughts asked:

'Ready for Chemistry?', she asked smiling and Max nodded approvingly. 'Off we go, then!', she exclaimed rushing Max and Cherry toward the Chemistry classroom.

At Villain U…

'My regards, Master.', a young woman said, her face being completely hidden by a crimson hood, all that was observable was her hair, spread in blonde cascades on her shoulders.  
>'Welcome… Patricia.', Dark Mayhem asked looking insistently at the woman, as she revealed her face.<p>

'So?',he asked, barely hiding his excitement.

'You were right master, they haven't told him the whole truth, yet. Our dear Max, knows nothing about his fate or about the Old League, so we can control him easily!', Patricia said, smirking in an evil way.

'And I have the perfect plan.', Dark Mayhem replied thoughtfully, and told Patricia: 'Now here is what you have to do…', Dark Mayhem started to whisper in her ear.

Back at Hiddenville High…

'And that is how we can determine the structure of an atom, now if you will…', the Chemistry teacher carried on, but soon stopped, observing that Max didn't pay attention.

_**I don't get it! Phoebe is surely hiding something from me and I wonder what…**_

__'MR. THUNDERMAN!', the teacher snapped at him and Max snapped from his thoughts, looking inquiringly towards the teacher.

'Would you mean paying attention?', the teacher continued in a way that pissed Max off.

'Please tell me the parts that compose an atom, Mr. Thunderman.', the teacher asked, waiting excitedly to have a reason to fail Max.

Max answered correctly and then, rising from his seat visibly fuming, he cried out, his voice booming and shaking the school:

'AND I COULD HAVE ANSWERED YOUR STUPID QUESTION WITHOUT ATTENDING YOUR IDIOT CLASS!'

As he said this, Max headed for the door, and briskly closing it behind him, ignoring the teacher's furious threats and that he almost pulled the door out of its hinges.

Back in the Chemistry class…

'I wonder what happened to him.', Cherry asked, even her attention being captivated by Max's reaction, and without waiting for Phoebe's answer turned back to her smartphone.

'Yeah, I wonder the same thing…', Phoebe said, looking at the door and ignoring the Chemistry teacher.

Back at Max…

Max got out of the school feeling the need to breathe some fresh air.

'_Who is this peculiar guy over there?'_, a high-pitched voice.

Max jumped looking around, searching for the possessor of the voice. He started to stroll around the school's yard, looking around, the only being in the whole yard being two sparrow, twitting at a fat pace. There was nothing that could've talked, and then, looking at the two sparrows, an idea struck him.

_'Why is he looking at me?'_, he heard the same high-pitched voice.

_'I think he's looking at me!'_, a similar voice exclaimed.

'Wait, you can talk?', Max asked the sparrows, being sure that he was running nuts.

_'Wait, you can understand us?'_, a sparrow asked and receiving Max's nod whispered to the other one in a very low voice. Still, Max was able to hear her, due to his new-discovered supersenses.

_'I think he's that boy all the girls are talking about.'_

_'The school President? No, I don't think so, although he is cute!'_ another sparrow said, but they flew away, as Phoebe approached Max who was still bewildered about his discovery.

'Are you alright?', Phoebe asked visibly worried, but Max immediately decided not to tell her about his new ability.

'Yeah, I'm alright.', he lied, feeling completely otherwise.

Phoebe, not buying said:

'Then why are you here? You were supposed to attend Chemistry, not insult the teacher.

'I can't stand idiots!', Max said, starting to get angry again, but was calmed down by Phoebe's calm facial expression.

'Come on, let's get back to class, OK? If you don't want to get a detention, of course.'

Max tended to agree with Phoebe and together their entered the school.

Right after them entered another person, smartly dressed, her blonde hair arranged in a tight bun… it was Patricia.

Later…

As Max and Phoebe sat down in the back of the class, the door opened loudly and Patricia came in, approaching the teacher's desk.

'Hello!', she exclaimed, showing a pleasant smile. 'My name is Patricia Steiner and I am going to be your History teacher. Now, please tell me what you have studied until now!', she said still smiling.

As she continued to talk, Max started not to hear her, everything started to blur and fade away and all that Max was able to see was a see of darkness. He started to panic trying to move his limbs pathetically, but nothing happened. Everything was still and Max soon realized that it is going to remain like this.

_'Nice try, kiddo.'_, said a voice, coming from everywhere as far as Max could tell.

'Who are you? What do you want?', Max asked desperately, in a high-pitched voice.

_'My identity is not to be known, yet, but all I can tell you is this: watch out for enemies, consider the signs and don't forget the words…'_

The grand voice that Max quickly decided that belonged to a man started to decrease in volume and slowly the black background started to turn into light grey and then, all of a sudden, Max was able to see again; he was on a hard surface and as Max touched it he observed that was the floor of the classroom. A bunch of worried people among them being Phoebe and the new History teacher were looking at him insistently, waiting maybe for a response, so Max, in order not to disappoint them stood up.

'Alright, kids, class dismissed, OK?', Patricia said, earning cheers from every pupil. As they headed towards the door, Patricia said at a very fat pace:

'Mr. Thunderman, mind waiting a little? I have an important matter to discuss with you.'.

Max stopped dead, turned around and approached the teacher's desk, wanting to hear what was so important and he had to listen. On the other hand, he observed something weird about his teacher: she looked around the classroom as she expected an unwanted visitor and whispered in a low voice, conspiratorially , so if it wasn't Max's supersenses, he would have never been able to hear her:

'So are you alright, now?', she said quickly grabbing a bunch of files and heading to the door, but stumbled and all her files fell on the floor.

'Let me help you with this.', Max offered to help, and without waiting for her approval started to gather the files.

As he quickly arranged them in a huge stack, a yellow-coloured, old paper attracted his attention and he started to read the title: 'The Chosen One.'

When he finished to read the prophecy and handed all the files to a thankful Patricia he asked quietly:

'What is that? The file that is entitled as 'The Chosen One'?'

Patricia looked surprised and replied, raising her eyebrows, elegantly arched and that offered her an air of deep intelligence:

'You read them? Oh well, it is a prophecy about a special boy that was to be born as a normal human, but ends as the most powerful person oh all his kind that is destined to great things. In the end, the prophecy says that he is going to be betrayed by his sister and that would cause his death, so he won't be able to fulfil his destiny…'

Max looked awful, his forehead and cheeks reddening and becoming crimson, and his were sparkling with anger. Of course, his peculiar look was soon observed by Patricia.

'Are you sure that you are alright?'

Max nodded thoughtfully and mumbled quickly as he headed to the door:

'Excuse me!'

Max was full of anger, all he was able to see was a red background; so that was all about, his family was afraid of… killing him?! He just couldn't believe it, but was sure that the prophecy was true. And if that mysterious person that warned him was right, he was supposed to "hear the words".

'Hey, Max', Phoebe said approaching Max, having no idea about his mood, 'look, Max, Dad has just called and- Are you alright?', Phoebe asked, observing Max's dirty look.

'Why? Are you going to be jealous on my feelings, as well?', he replied, Max's voice sounding deep and husky.

'What do you…', Phoebe started to say, but was stopped by her brother.

'Don't even try it, Pheebs! I know the prophecy and I also know that you are going to betray me. I-I can't believe it! You are my sister and…'

'Yes, well you're my brother and never acted like one!', Phoebe snapped, but as soon as she realized what she has just said, covered her mouth.

'Good, then we're even.', Max said, anger being replaced by sadness and then, he speeded away, disappearing in a blur.

Phoebe looked into the distance and sighed, but was forced to come back to reality as her phone started to vibrate.

'Phoebe,', she said sternly.

'What takes you so long? This is an emergency!', Hank said, clearly shaken.

'What is it?', Phoebe asked excitedly and worried.

'The Green Ghoul has been freed and he is surely going to come after me.', Hank said. 'So can you come home as quick as you can?'

Phoebe deeply contemplated her answered and replied, her voice full of sorrow:

'I can, but I am not as sure about Max.'

As she said this, she hanged up, not waiting for her father's response.

Somewhere in Hiddenville…

'What now, brother?', the Green Ghoul asked a mysterious figure dressed in black clothes, its head being covered by a hood.

'Kill Hank, but leave Max to me. Is it clear?', a cold voice said and it was impossible to not recognize its possessor- it was Dark Mayhem.

In Metroburg, near the Superheroes' Council…

'Good thing you all are here!', exclaimed Barb, hugging all her children.

'Well, not really all of us…', added Phoebe looking rather sad.

'Oh, dear, I'm afraid that he had to know the prophecy in the end, right?', Barb replied, trying to be as comforting as possible.

'Now, can we talk about something else then- Oh, hello Ms. Inspector!', Hank greeted a dark-skinned woman dressed in a blue costume. In return she nodded and approached the group.

'Nice to see you again!', she smiled, although the smile looked a little fake. 'I'm so sorry that we have to meet in such dark circumstances, but I heard about your gifted son and I would be more than pleased to meet him!', she said, a little of excitement in her voice becoming evident.

'Oh, well he wasn't- he is not hear!', Hank exclaimed a little embarrassed.

'Oh well-', the Inspector started to say but she was stopped by Barb who was looking around frenetically.

'He's here! He's here!', she exclaimed and the Thundermans were not sure if she was frightened or joyful.

'Who's here, mom?', Phoebe asked a little worried and Hank added too:

'The Green Ghoul?'

'NO!', she cried out. 'MAX! I can feel his energetic signature!'

As she said this, all the Thundermans started to look around them, murmuring his name continuously.

'OK, Max, we know you're here, come out and please, please help us!', Phoebe said, trying to put in her words all her regret.

'Fine.', Max's voice was made heard from somewhere behind the group and everyone turned around, in order to see him.

He was standing there, dressed in casual clothes.

'You will pay for your treason!', Max cried out making a gesture with his hand.

The earth started to shake violently and all of a sudden, the black asphalt was covered in thin trails of shiny ice that made the Thundermans and the Inspector slip.

'What do you mean?' What have we done?', Barb exclaimed, trying to maintain her balance.

Max just grinned, and making another gesture, an uncountable amount of icicles started to grow from the icy surface, being released into the air, aiming for the five Thundermans, who managed to dodge the deadly attack.

'Why are you doing this?', Nora cried out while trying to melt the ice using her laser vision.

'Please, Max, stop it!', Phoebe exclaimed imploringly, trying to approach Max, but failing every time.

'Yes Max. Why are you doing this? **I **want to make them suffer!', a grave voice boomed from somewhere behind Max.

The latter turned around fast hoping it wasn't- unfortunately he was right: it was the Green Ghoul.

'Don't even try it!', Max yelled in response, earning wild laughs from the green ghost.

'Look here, Max, you stay there and I will with your old man, OK?', the Green Ghoul said, rising Hank into the air, and then, using his levitation started to strangle him.

Ignoring the annoying fact that the ghost called him "Maxi", he focused on the situation, considering his job done- he wanted revenge and now someone else was doing the whole hard-work for him.

Realizing what he was thinking, Max pulled off his thoughts-something snapped inside him; he loved his family the way it was, even if he wasn't the most loved twin… And he really hated to admit it!

_"Why am I doing this?"_, he asked himself and then, crying out loudly, he said:

'Hey, you, green smoke, put him down!', Max said, but the Green Ghoul ignored him. '**NOW!**', here his voice increased in volume and some of the blocks of flats' windows started to shake in their frames.

Max's POV

I knew that I had to do something at once, and gathering every bit of power I had, I tried to push the Green Ghoul away, using my kinesis and it worked! Thrown on his back he instantly dropped his hold of my father and as he managed to land in a pretty good shape, I returned my concentration towards the green ghost.

'ALRIGHT, THIS IS GETTING TO BECOMING ANNOYING!', he yelled threw a green ball of light towards me.

Instinctively I raised my hand in order to defend myself and unexpectedly , the ball remained in the air, only inches above my had. Then, redirecting it with my levitation I threw it back at the ghost, who was hit by it directly in the green chest. But he still wasn't finished and rising a black van of the SC he threw it at me, and then, something weird happened: instead of hitting me, it was caught by a huge green stem who has just grown from the grey deteriorated asphalt.

'WHAT THE…', the Green Ghoul said, but was thrown on his back again by a mysterious figure who was standing high above the ground.

'Use all your elements at once!', the unmistakable voice said, and I soon knew that Superman was there, trying to help me.

'But I don't think I can control wind, too!', I yelled back at him, making other windows get broken.

'Just try it!', he replied, yelling too.

I closed my eyes thinking about the four elements, creating pictures of all of them, fire, water, air and earth, but I had to open my eyes as the earth started to shake and the asphalt to crack loudly. There, in front of me was a big ball of blue light and again, led by instinct I threw it towards the Green Ghoul, but I wasn't able to see the consequences, as I let myself slip into darkness…

'Is he alright?', Phoebe asked her father, as she saw Max falling to the ground.

'Not sure, but look at what is happening to the Green Ghoul!', exclaimed Hank and soon everyone focused on the green human shape- it was starting to collapse and fade and then, with a deafening cry of rancour the Green Ghoul vanished.

Phoebe's POV 

We all rushed towards Max and taking his head in my hands I snatched the black helmet and frenetically started to touch his face; luckily he was just asleep.

5 minutes later…

'How did you know what Max had to do in order to defeat the Green Ghoul?', I asked Superman being very suspicious, and expecting the worse.

He started to play with a strand of his dark hair and then, sighing deeply said, looking grimly: 'I am ashamed to tell you that you do not know the whole story, Phoebe Thunderman.'

As I heard his reply I started to cry, due of fury and the multitude of feelings I experienced.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you'll like it! If you have any suggestions for the next chapters or only want to express your opinion about the story then feel welcome to PM or write a review!**

**Yours, **

**Alex**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6-More answers… less knowledge<p>

'So let me see if I got this,', Phoebe interrupted Superman, provoking a slight hue of boredom, 'Max is one of the many Chosen Ones, of which some accomplished their mission, some did not and some joined Darkness?', Phoebe said, pointing her eyes Superman, being visibly mistrustful.

'Yes!', Superman replied and led Phoebe, Hank and Barb toward the large metal door that served as entrance into the Superheroes' Council. Then, briskly turning to the worried three Thundermans added: 'You see, as every Chosen One has to choose between Light and Darkness, some chose the latter, and of course, it was crucial to determine Max to choose the Light side, or anyway that's what we believe we did…'

'But what might happen if he would have chosen Darkness?', Phoebe asked, purely curious.

'Superman sighed and frowned:

'The last Chosen One that joined Darkness was Dark Mayhem, on his real name Klaus Donnenmann and he…', here Superman took a deep breath, ignoring Phoebe's open mouth, as in shock. 'In those times', he continued, 'every superhero was united into a single organization: The League. Well, Dark Mayhem felt betrayed after a superhero tried to steal his powers-poor fellow!-and joined the Dark side, receiving a devastating power: The Green Fire.'

'The Green Fire?', asked Phoebe and Superman made haste to respond:

'It is an ancient gift that spreads like a disease and kills everything that is beautiful and kind… Eventually the League fought Dark Mayhem, but was not able to destroy him completely- he lost his gift, and became a ghost, although…'

'Although, I,', Hank said, 'the one who let the Superheroes' attack paid a horrible price, as fighting Darkness requires lots of energy, I lost too much vital power- my supernatural abilities could be supported no more, and started to fade away.', Hank said half proudly and half sorrowfully.

'And that's why your father has retired so early.', Barb added, gently patting her husband's arm.

'And the League was permanently broken.', Superman added, quite gloomily.

For a couple of moments there was complete silence as Phoebe was trying to assimilate the new bits of information.

'And Max doesn't know all these facts because…?', Phoebe asked, looking as if she was ready to tear Superman into pieces.

'We tried not to threaten his self-confidence and I- we would appreciate if you remained silent, we don't want to today's events repeat.'

'Wait! You think it is my fault!, I had nothing to do with it, I don't even now how he managed to find out about that damned prophecy!', she said, now screaming. 'Why would I even do it?'

'Well, you can be a little jealous sometimes, you know.', Barb said, trying to sound as comforting as she was able to be.

'HOW DARE YOU?! I would never tell him something that might hurt him!'

'But you have been jealous, dearie, like when he became school President…', Barb pointed, wondering why was she still talking and expecting the worst response from her daughter, and she wasn't disappointed.

Luckily, a young blonde woman dressed in the Superheroes' Hospital showed up, and, smiling amiably, she asked:

'Hello! I believe you're Max's parents?', the woman asked, adding quickly that their son was conscious and in a state that allowed visiting. 'So if you desire to visit him…', the woman said, arranging her teal-coloured uniform.

'Sure, we'd love to!', Barb exclaimed thinking of what Max might say at the moment of seeing the three of them.

Contemplating for the last time the tall grey glass building that hosted the Superheroes' Council, Barb started to follow the blonde woman to the hospital, closely followed by Phoebe and Hank.

A week later…

'NORA, I'M HOME!', Billy screamed as usual, closing the door and throwing his backpack away on the floor.

Billy crossed the colourful sitting room, going past Max and Phoebe, who were texting frenetically, bumping in Max and finally reaching the spot where Nora was watching the whole scene narrowly from the kitchen.

'What're you doin'?', Billy asked , talking fast and with excitement.

'Look at the two of them…', Nora murmured thoughtfully, fully contemplating the situation. 'Since that fight, they haven't been talking to each other…'

'Do you think they're up to something?', Billy asked, whispering, but still getting Nora's attention.

'Why would you think that?', she asked in response, looking at Billy questionably.

'I don't know it's just weird… Not arguing, not even talking… OH, I KNOW! Maybe they forgot how to talk!', Billy exclaimed loudly, as the realization struck him.

Nora, on the other hand, just sighed, remembering who she was talking too- her brother!

'Alright, I think we should… you know… investigate a little…', she said, trying to look as if she was careless towards this situation. Luckily, Billy, did not realize that he was doing exactly what his sister wanted him to do.

'INVESTIGATING!', he cried out, attracting Max and Phoebe's baffled glares for a while, until they returned to typing on their iPhones.

'We'll talk later.', Nora said returning to observing the twins.

'So how was school?', Barb asked, but jumped as something in her pocket vibrated. 'What is-', she started to say, pulling her smartphone out of her pocket. 'Tell Phoebe that her hair is awful!', Barb read aloud and started to scold Max about it, but she had to stop as a second message arrived and Barb started to read it out loud: 'Tell Max he stinks!'

'Well at least their communicating.', said Billy, highly amused.

'Yes, through text messaging and they're not even texting each other!', Nora replied, still contemplating the amusing situation.

'Alright stop it!' Barb snapped and the twins glared at her , stopping texting. 'If you're going to stop, I am going to take your phones away! Is that understood?', she said, calming down a little.

'OK, I'm sorry, Max!', Phoebe said, looking genuinely sorry.

'Yeah, I'm sorry too.', Max said casually and then added, hissing between gritted teeth, as Barb went upstairs: 'That I met you!'.

'As he said this, Max headed toward his lair, leaving a shocked Phoebe alone with her pessimistic thoughts.

_"God! He sounds so hateful! I have to fix things quickly!"_, she told herself trying to be strong. 'Tonight…', she muttered.

Later that day…

It was late at night and everyone was sleeping... or not everyone?

Phoebe climbed down the stairs as quiet as possible, trying not to wake up the whole house, then she looked kindly toward the dark sitting room, expression changed into concern as she was approaching the entrance of Max's room. She knew that what she was going to do is not the best idea, but it was time for a change and she had to start it. Phoebe lifted the hatch and then, closing her eyes, slid down on the slider.

'WHAT THE-', Max snapped as Phoebe landed directly on him.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up!', Phoebe said, managing to get off Max and sit on an edge of his bed. 'I mean I did want to wake you up, but not this roughly.'

Max looked at his sister questionable and knew that something important was troubling her. 'What is it, Phoebe?'

'Well, I just-, no, it doesn't matter it was just-', Phoebe mumbled and stood up, but was tugged back on the bed by an invisible hand.

'Max!', she cried out in surprise.

'Sorry, Pheebs, but something is troubling you and I want to know what.'

She looked in his eyes and saw that he was honest.

'You know, you and me did not have the best brotherly relationship and I was thinking of trying to argue less, and well… learn how to understand each other…'

'You know,', Max interrupted her, 'that's exactly what I was thinking and yes, I also want to have a better relationship with you. Anyway I messed up with Billy...'

'Don't say rubbish, Max! You and Billy have a really nice relationship as I and Nora do. And anyway, don't expect too much, after all you're 15 and Billy is 10!'

Max nodded.

'And I wanted to ask you something more, a favor actually.', Phoebe added, showing the puppy-eyes.

Max looked at her and smiled, his eyes remaining serious.

'I was wondering if I can sleep with you, like we did when we were young and every time I had had a nightmare, you comforted me... I really miss those times...'

Max couldn't believe his ears- she still remembered those times!?

'Well, alright, this night only, OK!?'

Phoebe quickly nodded happily.

Some minutes later, as none of them was able to sleep, Phoebe decided to break the ice:

'Max, are you awake?', she whispered, earning an 'mmh' from her brother. 'Is there something you're hiding from me?'

Max quickly turned his face to her, smiling, their eyes connecting.

'I'm a super villain, Pheebs and I have lots of secrets.'

She rolled her eyes and said:

'I don't get it, why this super villain stuff, I mean you are a good person, anyway.'

Max's smile disappeared instantly, being replaced by a sad expression.

'I just don't want to be in second.'

This time it was Phoebe's turn to smile.

'But Max, we're twins, we have the same powers and I think, that if you tried more, you would be as good as I am.', she said, knowing that the lat part didn't sound too well. 'I can help you if you want!', she added quickly.

Max smiled again. 'Alright, I'll give it a try.'

There was another moment of silence that was quickly interrupted by Phoebe.

'Max?'

'What is it now?', he answered.

'I'm waiting for a confession, you know!'

Max looked at her in bewilderment and Phoebe quickly added:

'A confession from your travels in Europe…'

He still did not answer.

'Oh come on, Max, it's not like I don't know you and Dark mayhem met once before. In a European prizon!', Phoebe snapped, startling Max who first thought of denying, but it had no point.

'How did you know?', he asked sadly and defeated.

'I hacked into the US database and your name figured on the list of US citizens detained in Europe. The French Province to be more exact.'

'Dammit!', Max cried out, not believing his own stupidity-why didn't he erase those files. He tugged through his hair and then looked imploringly at his sister.

'Please tell no one, will you?'

She looked deep in his eyes and then said:

'Of course I won't! It's your secret, not mine and they will know whenever you want. But please be careful next time, OK?

Max nodded and then was silence- the two teenagers fell asleep.

In the meanwhile...

'So hiw can we help?', Tara asked casually, tugging her straight hair.

'Max Thunderman killed my brother, the Green Ghoul and I want revenge!', Dark Mayhem said, spitting his words in sign disgust.

'So, again, how can we help?', Tara said, trying to maintain her attentin .

'If Max Thunderman can kill something already dead, then nothing can stop him... Expecting a broke heart, of course...', Dark Mayhem said, his voice transforming into a purr.

'We are not going to make our daughter run into an actress!', Mr. Campbell said, his voice increasing volume.

'And anyway, how did Max offend you, so you revenge so hardly on him?', added Tara.

'THAT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESSES!', Dark Mayhem snapped, 'And we all know how you became so rich, idiot donkeys!', he added and without leaving them time to answer, he disappeared.

But in a at corner other large living room of the Campbell mansion, hiding into darkness and listening to the dirty plot.

Next day...

'Cole...', Phoebe muttered in her sleep, placing her head on Max's chest. In that very moment his eyes snapped open.

'What the', Max started to say and then, shaking his day violently exclaimed: 'Get off!'. In the next moment, Phoebe was awake.

'Mhh, what happened?', she asked in morning voice.

'You were kinda embracing me, murmuring Cole's name.'' Max replied, hardly hiding his laughter.

'It's not funny!', Phoebe exclaimed, rather embarrassed.

'Yes it is!', Max said, giggling. 'And that's why too teenagers of opposite sex are not to sleep in the same bed...'

Phoebe opened her mouth to say something and closed it again, playfully punching Max in the shoulder. 'Max!', she exclaimed.

When the two teenagers calmed down, Phoebe said:

'Any plans for this Saturday?'

'No, not really.', Max answered. 'Why? Do you have something certain on your mind?'

'What about some training?'

As Phoebe said this, Max covered his ears with his pillow.

'You didn't let me finish!', she added. 'I was thinking of training in a sp ecial designated area, at the Arena...'

Max quickly uncovered his ears and raised his head, looking at his sister in surprise.

'In Metroburg?!', he asked, not believing his ears. 'We're not allowed to-'

'Do you really think that I don't know that?', Phoebe snapped. 'I was just thinking of something interesting. And Nora can come with us, you know...', she added, smiling at her cunningness.

Max considered his options and soon realized that had nothing interesting to do today. And anyway, what might get wrong?

'Alright, stop imploring me.', he said.

Phoebe rolled her eyes in the back of her head and getting off Max's bed she said, before going upstairs:

'Oh and grab your Thundersuit. You're gonna need it!'.

'Phoebe's breaking rules?!', Dr. Colosso said, who his just overheard the whole conversation. 'I'm starting to think that she's more evil then you ar , Max.', he said.

Max didn't answer, thinking that Dr. Colosso was right and Phoebe was more evil than him. But did he really want to be evil? Max sighed and snapping of his dizzying thoughts started to search for his Thundersuit, through his pill of clothes thrown in his wardrobe...


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys! Sorry for posting this new chapter so lately, but I hope you'll enjoy it! And don't forget to check out our new Chex community: Chex best fanfics!**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7- A great challenge<p>

'Haven't we reached it yet?', Max asked excitedly, sounding like Billy when receives a new rock.

Phoebe rolled her eyes in the back of her head, but also trying to keep her attention on the road.

'No, and this is the hundredth time you ask me in 5 minutes,', she replied smiling widely and highly optimistic, observing that she hasn't been seeing such an optimistic Max in years.

'Are you sure about this?', Nora asked worriedly, stepping prudently forward, where Phoebe's seat was. 'I mean, we stole the Thundervan and besides, you two are both 15, so you have no driving license, have you?', Nora pointed out, her mind quickly shifting from the possibility of having fun to getting into trouble.

Phoebe sighed.

'Oh, come on! And how wrong can this be?'

'Well…', Max started to say, but was stopped by Phoebe.

'Someone sometimes does something wrong and you all jump like this! And anyway, it's not called stealing, it's called borrowing!', Phoebe exclaimed, making Max wonder when has he last seen her so evil.

'And anyway, how many times hasn't Max done something wrong?', Phoebe stated, receiving uncomfortable glares from her twin brother.

Max opened his mouth in order to say something, but closed it soon as hundreds of white and golden high rooftops of Metroburg's skyscrapers came in sight…

Later…

'Wow, I actually forgot how great this place is!', Nora said, not helping but look amazed around her.

'And there's where our old apartment was!', Max exclaimed happily, pointing to a couple of shiny windows, at an impressive height in the block of flats that ignored the laws of physics.

'And there's the Arena!', Phoebe exclaimed and enthusiastically ran towards the closed heavy doors that served as the entrance in the gigantic stadium, closely followed by Nora and Max.

As the small group approached the ceiled entrance, two masked guards that were standing there, pointing their light swords toward them.

'You're not allowed to enter the Arena at the moment, without a permit issued by the Superheroes' Council.', one of the guards said, and Max correctly guessed that she was a woman.

'Yes, well we do not need a permit, we're the Thundermans!', Phoebe said, a hue of pride evident in her voice and comportment, as she placed her hands on her hips, and inflating her breast, in order to make the _T _imprinted on her chest to be more visible. But as she came back to reality, Phoebe observed that the two guards did not really react, so she added: 'Our father is Thunderman, so we do not need a permit!'

'I'm sorry miss Thunderman, but a permit is always needed to access the zone, so…', the woman started to say in a dull voice, but she was interrupted by Max.

'Yes, well, I'm the Chosen One, Max interrupted the woman's boring speech, but as the guards still did not make any attempt to open the doors, Max added: 'Do I need to call Superman in order to enter this damned place?', he stated being slightly angry, which surprised Nora and Phoebe, as they have never heard him swear. 'Cause I can do it, but I doubt he is going to like to be interrupted!'

Suddenly, he sensed conflict in the two masked people and he quickly observed that the next few moments are going to prove as crucial.

'Alright, fine, you three can enter!', the woman said, deactivating her light sword and starting to press on a near panel. Slowly, the huge heavy metal doors opened, allowing the three Thundermans to see the light from inside the Arena.

When Max, Phoebe and Nora crossed the large threshold, they stopped dead in their tracks, stunned by the impressive sizes of the stadium, and the magical atmosphere of the large sports complex, with hundreds of black leather chairs, immense LED screens that were placed on every piece of wall. Also, the blue and dark-purple live wallpapers that were running on the screens contributed to the special atmosphere. Surrounded by the large white walls was the emerald pitch, where dozens of superheroes were training alone or with their friends.

'Wow! This place looks cooler than I recall!', Max exclaimed, his eyes scrutinizing the gigantic stadium, expressing deep amazement, travelling from the empty tribunes to the far ends of the pitch.

'OK, Max. Pay attention to the way I and Nora will fight and then, you can join us, too! Is it alright with you?', Phoebe explained in a professional voice and Max nodded, heading to a near edge of the place chosen for trainining.

'Ready, Nora?', Phoebe asked, and turning to Max, she added: 'We are going to fight one another using one ability, only. Although you and me are going to have a more complex combat, so- Ouch!', Phoebe cried out as one of Nora's lasers hit her in the leg. 'Oh you-!', Phoebe started to say, but had to stop when another laser hit her in the leg.

'Talk less and fight like a real superhero!', Nora said challengingly.

'Phoebe said nothing, all she did was to make a slight gesture with her hand and Nora was already lying breathlessly on the ground. The two girls continued to fight using their abilities, but Phoebe was the winner.

'Now,' she said panting a little, 'we can start **our **training, Max!'

'Why can't I train with Max?!', Nora asked, clearly annoyed by the fact that she was considered too young for doing great things. 'I can beat Max in no time!', she exclaimed.

Max didn't reply, his inquiring quirked eyebrows suggesting all the doubts he had in Nora's possibilities to win. That was enough for Nora- she was being underestimated and she wasn't going to stand it!

Suddenly, a glowing laser rapidly tried to hit Max, but remained stuck in the air when it was some inches away from his spiky hair. Sketching a small gesture with his hand, Max guided the blinding light towards Nora, who luckily dodged it in time.

Then, Nora, to her greatest displeasure, had to admit that she would have never been able to defeat Max, not for the next hundred years, anyway!

'Alright, he's all yours!', Nora said, trying to mime go-by.

'Ready?', Phoebe asked, when she and her twin brother were in a fighting stance. When Max nodded, Phoebe ran towards him, trying to throw him a punch, but he dodged it, catching her fist with his hand. Then, using it for his advantage, he threw Phoebe on her back, the latter, not having time even to whine, before being threw on the green grass, like a rag doll. Jumping on her feet rapidly, she used her kinesis on Max, throwing him on his back. But Max did not give up- he was not going to let his sister win, again!

All of a sudden, the intensity of the combat increased, and the two siblings started to swirl on the ground, in a mess of black and brown hair, blue suits, hands and legs…

Of course Nora tried to stop the fighting teenagers, but annoyed with the fact that wasn't listened to, she walked slowly to the stairs that led to the tribunes, climbing them carefully, thinking about the events of the past weeks, finally deciding that life was the craziest thing that exists on this planet.

She sat on a chair, contemplating the shocking view of Max and Phoebe fighting, using their limps, ice, fire and all the other abilities they had-once Max used his high-pitch voice and attracted the annoyed glares of every superhero in the Arena-and it was kinda funny, it reminded her of the days before the whole Chosen One stuff… But she realized how wrong she was, when she felt a cold piece of metal on the back of her neck.

'Don't move, or the twins die!', a hoarse voice whispered in her ear, and then she realized that at every corner of the VIP tribunes (like the one she was sitting in) were masked men dressed in purple suits, holding big silver guns, and Nora had no doubt that they were meant to neutralize Max and Phoebe.

'Follow me, please!', the voice ordered and Nora had no choice, but to comply…


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! So here it is Chapter 8, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**And sorry for the lack of action in this chapter, but I promise that the next ones are going to be far more interesting!**

**Alex**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8-Before treason there's love<p>

'Max and Phoebe Thunderman!', a familiar voice boomed around the stadium, and even fighting, the twins recognized their mother's angry voice.

Quickly they tried to stand up and after a couple of 'Get your-!', 'Just try to-!' and 'That way!', Max and Phoebe were ready to raise on their feat and _heroically stand for their charges_! And of course, by _heroically _I mean smiling widely and posing into innocent children.

'Hi mom, dad!', Phoebe said, still smiling, but a hue of guilt was already easy to distinguish in the bright red colour of her cheeks.

'Yeah, what are you two doin' here?', Max asked in a casual way, managing to seem cool and in control of the whole situation.

'We were just coming to meet our dear children…', Hank started to say, mimicking benevolence, but the twins were able to hear Barb's half shout whisper that continued Hank's nice speech: 'Children who got into trouble!'.

'GET IN THE THUNDERVAN NOW!', Hank yelled at the two teenagers, unleashing all the rage he kept inside of him, since the moment he and Barb had found out that Max, Phoebe, Nora and the Thundervan were all gone!

On the other hand, Max and Phoebe were really frightened- the idea of really getting into trouble never crossing their minds. As the twins approached their angry parents on the stairs that led to the exit of the Arena, something puzzled them: they're parents worried glares, as they were expecting someone else…

'Where's Nora?', Barb asked, sounding more calm now.

Phoebe stopped dead in her tracks; of course in the battle of Max she forgot to check on Nora.

'I think she went to the VIP balconies, over there!', Max exclaimed, pointing his index finger to a bunch of balconies. 'Let me check!', he said, and before Barb or Hank could have opposed, he disappeared in a blur and then, reappeared, holding in his hand a bright red bow, exactly like the one Nora was wearing today. 'G-guys! I think Nora has, you know-', he said looking very concerned, but his voice broke before he could've finished the sentence. Phoebe, Hank and Barb were speechless, as they have never seen the 15 year-old boy so haggard in their whole lives. And then, all of a sudden a realization struck them- Nora would never leave willingly one of her bows behind.

'Hello Thundermans!', a mysterious voice said and all the screens in the stadium started to show an ash-blonde haired man, probably in his early thirties, grinning widely.

'Tramster!', Hank muttered very low and if not for his superhearing, Max would have never heard him.

'My name is Luke Tramster, special agent of the International Department of Spreading Evil of the Dark Army.', he said still grinning and then added in a voice full of defiance: 'Maybe you remember me, Thunderman?'. After a short moment of saying nothing, he continued: 'Anyway, Nora is currently in our custody an waiting for my Master's order, His Lordship, Dark Mayhem.'

Upon hearing the so-feared name, Max flushed.

'So see ya, Thundermans! Oh and by the way, you'd better not try to locate little Nora, here, or-', Luke said, his grin turning into a cruel smirk as the camera shifted in order to reveal Nora, whose limbs tied tightly to a chair and whose hair was a total mess.

'No don't-', she started to cry out, but all of a sudden the connection had been terminated.

No one said something for a long time, all the superheroes being stunned in shock. And then, they all started to crowd towards the exits, a total turmoil enveloping the Arena.

'Let's go home, kids.', Hank said sadly, looking far older than usual, his back starting to hunch a little.

Back in the Thundermans home, in Hiddenville…

'We have to do something!', Max exclaimed, sitting between Phoebe and Barb, as Hank was sitting on an armchair near. 'Cause I personally can't tell Billy that he's not going to see his sister for a long time from now on, so-'

'What?', Billy's voice made heard and the four adults turned their heads in order to see a Billy that was on verge on crying. And before Max. Phoebe or anyone for the matter could have explained what happened, the 10 year-old supersped out of the room.

'No! You heard what that damned soldier said. We can't risk losing Nora forever!', Hank said, standing up and heading upstairs.

'And what's the big difference anyway?', Phoebe murmured, but unfortunately was heard by Hank. 'OUR DAUGHTER AND **YOUR SISTER **IS STILL ALIVE, AND THAT'S ENOUGH FOR ME!', he screamed, storming out of the room, closely followed by Barb.

Later at night…

Phoebe couldn't help but feel kinda sorry for Max- he was silently blamed for everything that happened, but she knew that it was all her fault.

'Hey, dearie!', the unmistakable voice of Dark Mayhem boomed inside her head, bringing a slight migraine with it.

'How? But…?', Phoebe started to say, and then, adopting her cool demeanour she asked: 'What do you want?'

'To make a deal.', Dark Mayhem replied.

'Why would I?, she replied in a feisty manner.

'JUST LISTEN!', Dark Mayhem cried out, obviously irritated. 'Come alone to the coordinates I'll send you, unarmed and I will free Nora.'

Phoebe said nothing, yet, still weighing her options.

'Can I trust you?'

Dark Mayhem chuckled darkly before responding. 'Do you have any other choice?'

'Alright, fine!', she blurted out.

'Good! And I suppose that you know what will happen to Nora if you don't come…', Dark Mayhem said, sounding more and more far away, together with his attenuating voice the headache started to vanish as well.

'You should stand on guard, you know.', the grave voice that he heard before during History, at school.

'Not you again!', Max mentally groaned, barely hiding his annoyance.

'You don't seem too glad about it. Anyway, you had a bad day today, hadn't you?', the voice answered.

'How do you know that?', Max asked, briskly interested.

'You would be surprised to know all the things I know about you, Maximus Thunderman. But all I can tell you for the time being is that it starts to happen!'

'What?'

'The prophecy, Max!', the grave voice exclaimed.

'Yeah, yeah, I know the whole "born away" story.', Max said, starting to get bored of the apparently pointless conversation.

'I was referring to the second stanza. "But a great challenge shall arrive,/when the Dark Ones will strike,/Love and pain will fight together/And treason will be seen again,/The sister has betrayed.". Don't you see? The Dark Ones have hit you already by kidnapping your sister, Nora, away from you, and now you're experiencing both love, for your family and pain, for losing Nora. And there's treason left…', the voice said, in a way that was both calm and neutral.

'No, she would never-'

'You feel it too Max, the presence of a great misfortune. You know you do!'

Max said nothing for a long while, knowing that the voice was right after all, he felt it deep inside of him.

'But it doesn't say which sister will betray me!', Max exclaimed trying to contradict the unknown possessor of the voice.

'No, it doesn't, but you know perfectly well who will do it!', the voice said, fading away.

Max sighed, messaging his temples slowly.

He knew the voice was actually right…

Next day…

'Morning!', Phoebe said, trying to sound cheerful, although she wasn't- she hated being grounded and she made a deal with Dark Mayhem, after all.

She slowly headed toward the door, opening it slightly, hoping that no one would have observed her absence; of course they did.

'Where do you think you're going?', Barb said, shutting the ajar door by using a blinding lightning.

Phoebe quickly turned on her heels, facing her angry mom, and despite her tendency to listen to her parents, Phoebe knew she had to do it, she had to save Nora!

'Come on, mom, it's not fair, OK I understand that what we did was something wrong, but I was just trying to spend more time with Max and Nora in a funny way, as for Nora's missing is not our fault, OK? We were training and we couldn't watch her, too!', she said quickly, trying to regain her breath.

'And let's not forget about driving without a license and deceiving the authorities responsible with the security of the Arena…', Hank said, continuing Phoebe's speech.

'But I really want to go to the park! Please!', Phoebe begged.

'Alright, fine, you can go!', Barb said, smiling a little. 'But first, hug your mother!'

'Thank you, thank you a lot!', Phoebe said, hugging her mother and running outside the house.

'Hey, may I go too?', Max asked coming from his lair.

'No.', Barb said, categorically.

'Why not?', he asked, hoping that the answer wasn't-

'Phoebe usually doesn't break the rules, but on the other hand, you do… so many times that we can't even remember!', Hank replied, helping himself with a can from the fridge.

'But-!', Max tried to say, but Barb interrupted him in a hard-bitten way.

'No, you can't go and that's it! You are grounded and you are not going to live this house! Do you hear me?!', Barb said, almost screaming when she reached the last sentences.

Max didn't bother to reply, after all he was determined to live the house and nothing was going to stop him!

Back in his lair, Max grabbed his backpack and nimbly climbed on the rocks leading to the small windows that usually served as a way of escaping when he was grounded.

He stretched his hand and then tried to open the black framed window.

'Ouch!', he yelped, quickly withdrawing his hand-of course his parents activated a sort of security program.

Max started to superspeed through his room, trying to find a way of getting out of his house- he didn't know why I he felt that Phoebe was in danger, but the feeling was so strong in himself, that he wasn't able to stay in place, without doing something.

He tried everything, but he couldn't deactivate the security program which apparently blocked all his computers as well.

"_So now there is no chance to hack the program…"_, he thought, hardly controlling the urge to hit both Barb and Hank with a blast of Light.

"_OK, just calm down, everything is gonna be fine…"_, he told himself, leaning on one of the rocks.

And all of a sudden, he lost his balance, as the rock wasn't even there and the next thing that he knew was that his face was buried in the fresh grass. He slowly raised his head, not believing that he has just walked through a huge rock and a wall!

Later…

Max was able to see Phoebe walking towards a big empty loan, looking as she was waiting for something.

'Phoebe stop!', he yelled, making his sister blench.

'Sorry, Max I have to-', she started to say, but before she could have finished her sentence, she vanished, surrounded by a greenish-coloured light.

Max felt like everything was going to collapse, right there and right now. He really couldn't understand how he lost another sister, and his twin! The Chosen One let himself sink into misery…

'Max?', a familiar voice asked.

The boy jumped on his feet and saw that on the very spot Phoebe was standing on, now was Nora.

'Nora!', he exclaimed, superspeeding towards his sister and embraced her tightly.

'I'm also very happy to see you, but I am dying here, you superstrength, guy!', she managed to say, and Max quickly let her go.

'Come on, let's go back home!', he exclaimed, taking her little hand in his.

'One little thing before that…', Nora said, showing the puppy-eyes.

Max groaned and asked: 'What?'

'Do you mind if we stroll around the town, it's like I haven't seen it in years!', Nora said, and Max fulfilled her wish.

They walked around the whole town, stopping buy to buy some ice cream or even to eat a pizza (not at Ms. Wonk, though).

'Come!', Max told Nora, leading her to their house. 'Just wait here.', he said, slowly opening the door.

'Going somewhere?', he heard his father say from the kitchen.

'Maximus Octavius Thunderman I swear that-', Barb started to say, but froze when he saw Nora.

'Nora!?', Hank and Barb exclaimed together, rushing over to hug their daughter.

'Nora?', Billy exclaimed, and ran towards Nora, hugging her even tighter than Max did!

'You found her?', Hank asked, briskly looking a lot more younger.

'Actually… she found me!', Max exclaimed, but everyone in the room observed the hesitant way he replied.

'What happened?'

'OK, fine, so Phoebe made a deal with Dark Mayhem, to join him in change for Nora and then I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen and then-', Max said, letting all the stress of that day come out, as he burst into crying.

Everyone was stunned; they have never seen Max cry…

Max let himself fall on his bed, trying to figure out a way to help Phoebe…

'I think I can help you with that!', the grave voice said, making heard the second time on that day.

'How?', Max said mentally.

'I can learn you see beyond the appearances…'

'Alright?', he replied, being highly doubtful.

'Now, clear your mind and open your heart…', the voice said patiently.

Max did as he was told and then, he couldn't stop himself from yelping, as the intensity of the feeling was too much for him.

'Max, why did you call me here?', Tara said, but noticing Max's look, the casual smile on her face vanished.

'What happened?', she asked.

'Where's Phoebe?', he replied in an icy voice.

'I-I don't know-I', Tara started to say, but Max didn't wait; he stretched his hand and instantly, Tara was pinned to the wall, her limbs held in an invisible tight grip.

'I really don't-',she started to say, but Max raised a threatening finger and she stopped.

'Now, my patience's running thin!', the boy said, making another gesture. And in that moment, hundreds of fireballs appeared right behind him, from nowhere. 'So?', he asked, knowing that Tara was now too terrified to lie.

'Dark Mayhem said that he was going to take her to Villain U, but I don't know why.'

'Where's Villain U, then?', Max asked, less and less patient.

'I don't- I don't know!', the teenage girl replied, bursting into tears.

'Fine!', Max exclaimed in a little more friendly way, dropping his telekinetic hold of her and also making the fireballs vanish, knowing that Tara wouldn't dare to lie to him again. 'One more thing-', he added before Tara could have reached the school exits, 'do you know someone who might know where Villain U is?'

The girl did not say something for some moments, weighing her options, before replying firmly:

'Patricia, the new History teacher!', she blurted out, running out of the school.

'So where's Villain U?', Max asked Patricia, kinetically mercilessly grasping her neck, forcing her to rise on her tiptoes.

'You may kill me already, 'cuz I'll never tell you!', she said dramatically, spitting the last words.

'But you will tell me, eventually…', Max said, huskily, approaching the blonde woman. 'Where's Villain U?'

Again, Patricia refused to tell him, which drove Max crazy.

Max said nothing, and without a warning, he put his hand on Patricia's chest, right where the heart was and sinking his hand inside of her, he gripped her heart.

'So?', he asked, knowing that he was going to get his answer, he was so near to killing her- she will surely tell him; and she did. 'You see, it wasn't that hard, was it?', he said more calmly now, but still holding her heart.

'May I leave now?', the blonde woman asked combatively.

'No.', he replied in her ear, enveloping the hopeless woman into bright rays of light; then, she was gone and no trace of her existence remained…

But Max was too worried for Phoebe, to think about what he has just done…

In the meanwhile, at Villain U…

'Just stop moving!', Dark Mayhem said, exasperated with Phoebe's attempts to free herself of the chains that were holding her pinned to the cold stone wall.

'Why would I willingly let you hurt me?', she exclaimed, still pulling and pushing the chains, trying desperately to break them.

'Don't worry, we'll finish to say- uhm- ouch?', Dark Mayhem said hesitantly, not finding a right ending for his phrase.

'Why would I say-', Phoebe started to reply, when Dark Mayhem blasted her with a greenish-coloured light.

Max was trying to get past the security fences that surrounded Villain U, a medieval castle, made of grey stone, when his phone rang.

'What is it, dad?', Max asked, in a tone that suggested his displeasure of being interrupted.

'Come back home!', Hank exclaimed, without bothering to temper the excitement in his voice. 'Phoebe's come back!


End file.
